BluePip Designs

August was definitely not a sew month.  We didn't travel anywhere, but we did have over a week of visitors, plus my sewing machine decided it had had enough and up and quit on me.  It didn't stop sewing when I told it to, the needle didn't finish in the down position, and the thread cutter started eating thread.  One of the needed repairs was proprietary and has to be done by the manufacturer, so I'm sewing on a borrowed machine for the foreseeable future.  It's the same model as my normal machine, but it's not the same as sewing on my normal machine.  I didn't get very much done, but I did have a very enjoyable month with my family and that matters more. Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 12 WIP List at end of month: 13 Untouched in 2023: 4 Active QAL Projects: 1 Quilts Finished None Quilts Started Stranger Quilt Sample - I've made a mini version of this new quilt pattern, and now I'm starting a full-sized version i...

That title is not a typo.  It is late summer here, but the pattern I used for this fun garden quilt is Hello, Spring .  This quilt was a quilt-along quilt and I'm proud to say that I actually finished it on time, even if the blog post is a little bit late. This gorgeous arbor and flowers are part of our local community gardens - gardening is not one of my hobbies.  The quilt looks scrappy but was actually made with a fat eighth bundle of Thicket by Alison Glass and Skygazing by Giucy Giuce that I bought last year and stashed, waiting for the perfect project to use it on.  I also used some extras from both designers to round out my top.  The only fabric not by one of these two designers is the background, which is a white-on-white print from the Pips collection by Aneela Hoey, which no longer seems to be available. I started making this quilt just for fun, but as I was working on it, one person's name kept popping up in my mind so by the time it was finished it...

July certainly was the longest month of the year so far.  I had travel both planned and unplanned, and felt like I mostly worked on one project ( my new quilt-along! ).  However, when I looked back at my camera roll for the month I accomplished more than I remembered.  August should be spent at home as we ramp up for back-to-school.  The kids and I have a summer bucket list of things we want to do before school happens so I'll be busy with that! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 12 WIP List at end of month: 12 Untouched in 2023: 4 Active QAL Projects: 1 Quilts Finished Hello Spring (May 2023) Quilts Started 100 Days 100 Blocks 2023 - My favorite quilt-along started again !  One block a day is perfect for my small chunks of summer sewing time.  I'm a fan of joining as I go, so this picture shows some blocks that I haven't shared on Instagram yet and omits some of the others that don't go in this section of my layout...

It's time, it's time!  My favorite quilt-along starts again today: 100 Days 100 Blocks 2023 !  All the details are at that link, but in a nutshell, there are 100 different blocks that you sew over 100 days.  This year, the quilt-along is using a brand-new pattern called Maple and Eucalyptus.  I really like that the blocks are all different sizes, which you can see in this photo I took of my blocks 1 and 2 together: Yes, I did make 4 identical block 2 blocks.  I love the rainbow cover version of this quilt, but I also love a challenge so I am going to make the Bananas variation , a free pattern expansion.  This means I'll be making 246 total blocks.  As with all versions of the quilt, I've set some rules for myself.  In other years I've done  black and white , pandas , and blue/green blocks .  This year I'm focusing on solids and low volume!  My rules starting out are: The feature fabric of each block is a solid and the background fa...

June was a slow month for sewing.  The last week of school is always so stressful - do I enjoy things to enjoy the last few quiet days by myself or do I scramble to finish all the things that are easier to do when the kids are out of the house?  As always, I did a little of both, so mostly decluttering and biking.  Once the kids were home, we spent a lot of time doing fun stuff, including my first camping trip in about seven years.  It went much better than the last one, and when we got home I was finally eager to sew again!  We are finally settling into our summer rhythm and I'm finding a balance again.  So!  A look at what I did accomplish: Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 13 WIP List at end of month: 12 Untouched in 2023: 4 Active QAL Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Sew Place Like Home (September 2022) Quilts Started None! Quilt Progress (4 WIPs touched) Hello, Spring!  - Once I got all of the stems an...

A movie quilt is a fun quilt, and today I am sharing one based on one of the most iconic movies of all time, The Wizard of Oz ! This was a quilt-along quilt designed by John at Art East Quilting .  Not only did I finish it on time, I even worked on the blocks in the correct order; the patterns were released monthly so there was no way to work ahead.  Each month, I received a character block and and a border block to make.  I bought the background fabric, but the rest of the quilt is scrappy from my stash.  Mostly solids, but with a print thrown in when I felt it was appropriate. Sometimes I struggle to find a place to photograph my quilts, but I saw this green bridge "over nothing" in front of a water tower at the edge of the bowling alley parking lot when I was dropping my child off at a birthday party and knew it was perfect.  When we came back to take the photos, there was no wind and we got several nice shots in under five minutes, which may be a quilt photo...

May seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye.  The month started with a long, fun visit from my mom, and ended with me trying to do all the things I've been putting off before the kids are off for the summer*.  Add in some nice weather, and I feel like I'm barely spending any time at all in my sewing room.  I was very motivated to finish my Oz quilt, even if I didn't quite get the binding on, and I spent some time working on a new pattern too!  And, of course, since the Oz top was done I had to start a brand-new quilt-along to take its place! * Yes, pictures and a blog post about the postage stamp quilt are on this list! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 11 WIP List at end of month: 13 Untouched in 2023: 4 Active QAL Projects: 3 Quilts Finished Meeple Tablerunner (May 2023) Quilts Started Hello, Spring! QAL  - A new quilt pattern and quilt-along from one of my favorite designers, Pen+Paper Patterns!  I started sl...

A quick post today with a project that was made by special request: a Meeple table runner! All of my children are huge fans of board games and love the Meeple pattern.  When my son made his wooden cabinet in woodshop class this year, he engraved a Meeple into the top, but then asked me to make him a table runner/giant coaster to protect the top. I printed off the 6" Meeple pattern at 60% so that the stuff that lives on top of his nightstand (lamp, tissue box, random Pokemon cards) doesn't cover it up.  He picked all the fabrics and asked for the same quilting as the Meeple Colorblock Quilt - easy peasy.  For the back, he wanted flannel so we used a piece leftover from the Blue Zephyr quilt. The table runner has custom dimensions so it is a half-inch smaller than the top of his cabinet.  We all use those metal water bottles and it's nice to have a big target when you are taking a drink in the middle of the night.  I love sewing things for my kids, and it's an ...

Only 41 days to go until one of my favorite quilt-alongs of the year starts: 100 Days 100 Blocks .  Ange has a brand-new pattern this year and I can't wait to dive in and make it.  This will be my ninth time participating in this quilt-along!  But first, I need to share quilt number eight: the Black and White Kinship Quilt! This quilt started, oddly enough, with the backing fabric.  I had purchased a wideback online for another project (I don't even remember which one anymore) and decided that it didn't work with the top.  It got put into a box and largely forgotten. My mother-in-law saw it when she was visiting and told me that the only top that it would match well was a black-and-white top, and I knew instantly it was going to go with my next 100 Days quilt.  I like to have a loose theme for each one (they are all scrappy) and black-and-white was one I hadn't tried before. I was also excited because I had a lot of black-and-white novelty prints, like the...

A pretty slow month in the sewing room.  We were blessed with a week of summer weather so I spent a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine instead of cooped up in my sewing room.  It was so nice to walk without a sweatshirt and get on my bike for the first time this year!  I'm working on my summer plans and looking forward to both more of the nice weather and some relaxed sewing. Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 12 WIP List at end of month: 11 Untouched in 2023: 4 Active QAL Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Black and White Kinship (July 2022) Quilts Started None! Quilt Progress (4 WIPs touched) Scrap Cabinet - This quilt will be made up of twelve sets of ten blocks each, or 120 blocks total.  I completely finished two of the sets, plus made six more, for a total of 26 blocks.  This is my new leaders and enders project, but it's moving much quicker than I expected! Sew Place Like Home  - The Wicked Witch and ...

April is almost over and today I'm checking in with my goal for the month : finishing at least six projects from the pile of small projects (most of them cross-stitch) laying around my sewing room. I started off by making a set of mug rugs for a wedding shower present.  The registry had a number of tea-themed items on it, so some tea from a local store and a hand-made set of mug rugs tied everything together and made a nice gift! The squares are leftovers from my postage stamp quilt  (finished photos and a blog post are on my to-do list).  Both the bride and groom love cats, so the backs are the last scraps of this cat-themed fabric. Next, I moved on to my small cross-stitch projects.  I did about one of these a week over the course of the month.  The hardest part of finishing them was picking fabrics to compliment the designs!  I've tried finishing projects in hoops before, but I just prefer the look of them in mini quilts.   The pictures go in the or...